Just got my CDL, then got a speeding ticket in my car. Should I go to court?

never just pay, if you are serious about driving being your vocation you are going to need to pay for an attorney to fight or have this reduced.

Of course if you are really serious about being a professional driver, you are going to need to change how you drive too!

 

NEVER EVER NEVER EVER plead guilty and pay the ticket. plead not guilty, and the ticket will usually get reduced rather than take you to court. most likely will not see a judge, rather you will deal with a representative from the da's office that will offer you a deal. 50 in a 35 is reckless driving i believe...VERY bad. any reduction will help. just had an argument with my mother about this...."wont you just be getting them mad by oleading not guilty? wouldnt they perhaps give bigger fine and court costs?" for tickets, they dont want to take you to court and waste the judges time. not cost effective...reduce it and get rid of it. the downside is its a process that in some cities/counties will take quite a bit of time. and a company will not hire you if they know you have a ticket in that process/unpaid as of yet. they hire you, you dont pay and end up having a bench warrant for your arrest....even worse than the original offense.

 

Depends on where you received the ticket. If it was in Texas, you have a couple options to keep it off your record. I'm sure most states have options too. All you have to do is ask and you might find out a way to keep it off.

 

Go the attorney route - an attorney with a copy of the MVR has a lot better chance than you walking in there and attempting to fight it or get it reduced yourself. Good news is that it should take 6 weeks or so to actually get on your MVR and hopefully you will have a job by then so it would be a while till the safety manager catches it - hopefully. I know a few hundred for an attorney sucks but its best option at this point. Best of luck on this!

 

Don't just hand an attorney [you don't know] $300 and your ticket and he says "ok i'll take care of it", then leave and assume it'll be handled. Make sure there is a solid line of communication between you two and you feel good about the responses you're getting. Countless attorneys take your money only to pay the ticket as you could have and to have it show up on future MVR checks and the pre-paid legal people aren't any better IMO ... if not worse.

Make a phone call and talk to the judge (or the clerk) talk to them about your situation and your wants and see what kind of response you get from them, then go from there to determine if you'd feel better about handling through an attorney who may or may not do what you want.

 

Go to court and plead not guilty, save the attorney fees and end up with the same result, a reduction, improper parking, loud muffler etc, all on your own.

 

I think you just really screwed yourself. Not trying to be harsh on you but you are going to pay hell trying to find someone to hire you now! Had you been going one mile an hour slower things would be different but 15mph over the speed limit is considered "reckless" and is looked at the exact same as DUI in the trucking industry! You can fight it all you want, which I still recommend, but no matter what it is going to be on your record and this is what will hurt you.

Man I feel really bad for you but everything happens for a reason and maybe you aren't supposed to be a truck driver. In the future keep in mind that your license is your "bread and butter" and you need to protect it with every means possible.

I don't really know where to steer you from here, for sure no mega-carrier is going to touch you. You are going to have to find a small, mom and pop company or owner operator willing to take you on. Bad thing about the O.O hiring you is he probably won't be able to get you insured. Whoever does insure you is going to be making money hand over fist!

Good luck man...

 

Couple years ago i got a ticket driving 57 on 40, when i got to court judge reduced it to a parking ticket and i just had to pay $150. This was in NYS and i was driving my car at the time. No points and no record because if you plea Not guilty and they reduce it to a parking ticket County gets to keep money for themselves. Main thing is don't ever plea GUILTY for a ticket, go to court and you should be fine.( at least in western NY )
Good luck...

 

Get a CDL Lawyer ...spend the $$$$ to get that off your record ...funny thing in my car I've prob gotten 2-3 warnings cause I had a CDL ...few during yrs I was not even driving a truck ...

you could go yourself and hope for a good result but it's your future lively hood your gambling with ...